Customer Reviews

The most helpful favourable review

The most helpful critical review

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 starsI adore this book
I am a foodie, and I love cookbooks. This is one of the best cookbooks I have ever owned. [...] I completely enjoy reading Nigel Slater's prose. He talks about food in a way that makes you want to eat! His goal is to develop enough confidence in his readers that they can easily find their way around a kitchen without being slavishly bound to a book. If you are obsessed...

2.0 out of 5 starsNigel Tells Us All About His Pudding.
If you were ever dying to know what kind of candy bar Nigel eats while waiting for the bus in England, you'll be fascinated to know that he eats Kitkats- but he still thinks they "taste better when you're sitting down". Anyway, Nigel in Bombay has a different approach, Nigel in Bangkok, once again- he's a softie for anything flavored with lemongrass. So, this book is 1)...

I am a foodie, and I love cookbooks. This is one of the best cookbooks I have ever owned. [...] I completely enjoy reading Nigel Slater's prose. He talks about food in a way that makes you want to eat! His goal is to develop enough confidence in his readers that they can easily find their way around a kitchen without being slavishly bound to a book. If you are obsessed with exact measurements, you will not like this book. However, if you want to become a more confident cook, then you must read this.The first half od the book is written in prose with no recipes. However, there are enough suggestions that I found myself putting the book down to run in and whip up this-and-that just from reading the suggestions he has. There are lists of what goes with what and what is in season (although it is based on the seasons in the UK). Just reading this first half of the book (I read it as I would a novel) will make you a better cook.In the recipe sections, many recipes begin with a vague recipe (you know - a chicken, a lemon, a head of garlic, a little butter), then there are several sections after that add variations. Each well worth the space it fills. In many ways, this is a great cookbook for me (if I may gender stereotype for a minute). Although I am a woman, my husband and father have both enjoyed this cookbooks. Unlike most cookbooks, it is more concerned with tasty food and skills in the kitchen, rather than trying to help you to get exactly the result that the author got when s/he made it.Nigel is British, so you will find Britishisms here. Bangers are sausages, rashers are bacon. However, measurements don't matter too much since he uses them so infrequently anyway. One lemon in the UK is about the same as one lemon in the US! Also, there are several typically British foods, like British pudding here. But contrary to what most Americans think, British food can be amazing. Their food has not been as hijacked by convenience foods as ours has - so the food is real --- REAL GOOD!One last point... the photography is fabulous! I read that Nigel insists on doing all the cooking for the photo shoots and won't allow food stylists to spruce it all up for the camera... so you see the tasty crunchy bits at the bottom of the pan... very appetizing.I'm really hoping that Nigel will influence other cookbook writers to use this more laid-back style of writing. It's oh so much more fun!

Blunt and straight to the point insight about real cooking. This book is great. However, I only recommend this book if you like reading cookbooks and you are an advanced cook or aspire to be an advanced cook. His keen insight and practical, blunt advice help to hammer home what cooking really is... and should be.Nigel gives you a firm lesson in the fundamentals in just one or two sentences throughout the book. It's a cookbook that is mostly filled with great advice - kind of like a chefs journal on steriods. I highly recommend this book- it's the kind of book you can read twice and still learn more on the second reading. Bottom line = his opinions are really good advice and this book is like a casual conversation- except that he is the one doing all the talking.

If you were ever dying to know what kind of candy bar Nigel eats while waiting for the bus in England, you'll be fascinated to know that he eats Kitkats- but he still thinks they "taste better when you're sitting down". Anyway, Nigel in Bombay has a different approach, Nigel in Bangkok, once again- he's a softie for anything flavored with lemongrass. So, this book is 1) all about Nigel and his idiosyncracies (none of which were useful or endearing to the reader) 2) Nigel's displaced sense of taste,and 3) Nigel not trying hard enough to make effortless cooking seem easy.There are only a small handful of recipes in the book. The first half of the book is useless to anyone who has ever eaten anywhere but Denny's or Burger King. Nigel seems to think he's brilliant and innovative for suggesting we place mozzerella cheese and sliced tomatoes side by side on a plate, then goes on to call Parma ham and figs served side by side "a cliche".His recipes are confusing, too, because the format goes something like my example below:RECIPE FOR SHEPHERD'S PIEleekscarrotspotatoeslambThen, Nigel will go on to give some measurements, and other very vague guidlines for cooking that go something like this:-a ground beef, or-enough heavy cream to fill a basketI don't know about you but I'm more interested in making good food. Nigel uses this book as an ego fount. Obviously he's experienced enough to do all this stuff by feeling his way through it, but how can you teach someone to slap bread slices on a plate and then how to make a fruit tart with the left side of your brain in the same book? Well, you can't. Nigel can't!